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ComiCon 2017
8 years ago
In case anyone has a burning desire to hear about San Diego ComiCon International, here's a write-up.
I left LA around 6 Weds afternoon, and didn't get down there until nearly 9:30. The ONLY reason I can afford to go for more than one day is my sister-in-law, who lives by Miramar Marine Base, graciously gives me crash space for a couple nights. Otherwise it's impossible to get a hotel in town. And if through some freak happenstance if you do get a hotel room, it's obscenely expensive ($200+ per night).
I didn't even try to get into Wednesday Preview Night.
Parking is always an issue. I ended up using the Amtrack lot, which was a criminal $40 per day. At least that was better than one of the hotel lots I used a previous year, which was $50 a day. I could've trolled for a cheaper spot, but that would've entailed more walking, possibly in a sketchy location. The homeless in SD are everywhere, and can be aggressive. Not really a good idea for a female to wander the streets alone.
This year they just mailed the badges, so there was no humongous line to check in. You still had to go through a maze to pick up your lanyaird and con books, however.
I'm really not that crowd-phobic, so the packed halls and dealer's room didn't bother me that much. I just find it annoying, because it's hard to move anywhere quickly or get close to certain exhibits. Sometimes I'd exit the hall to avoid the worse traffic areas when traveling from one area to another. For this year the convention moved the art show into an off-site hotel, and since I was lugging around a backpack that weighed about 100 pounds, I didn't want to schlep all the way over there to see it.
There were some neat convention exclusive toys and figures, but trying to get any of them entailed getting up at 4AM to stand in a line to get a ticket, then if you actually get a ticket, you have to stand in another line to pick up the item. And then you get to haul around this huge display box in a bag for the rest of the convention. I suppose if you're with a group of people and can share line duties it would be workable, but not for someone alone. Still, the Nickelodeon Usagi Yojimbo figure was cool, and Hasbro had a Grand Admiral Thrawn figure I would've gotten if given the chance.
Flesk publications had a book that I pre-ordered on Amazon. According to Amazon, it's still not shipped yet, but they had it at the con. I asked the person at the table about the discrepancy, but they claimed it was available on Amazon. Liar liar pants on fire. I ended up getting the book at the table and cancelling my Amazon order. As a bonus I got a free book from them about one of those lame-ass artists who does the 'noble Indian' faux western paintings. Maybe I can sell that on EBay. On the plus side, I did get a graphic novel I'd been wanting for half price from another dealer.
This year they had a lot of events and panels off-site. I didn't go to the Elfquest panel because it was at the San Diego library and i didn't feel like trying to figure out how to get there. The Adult Swim Rick & Morty panel, as well as the Gotham panel, were both at a ballroom in a hotel next to the Convention Center.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, if you want to see what the line looked like, the photo is here: http://martes.livejournal.com/918125.html#comments
No, I did not go to any of the panels at that particular venue. I honestly don't understand the attraction of standing in a line for literally days. No exaggeration-- people set up tents and sleep in line. WHY?? You can see the whole fucking panel on Youtube later, and it's not like you can meet the people on the panel, and the room is so big they look like fleas on the stage anyways. I can picture a few instances where I'd camp out in line for days, but the rewards would have to be extraordinary.
One panel I actually did manage to get into was the Mouse Guard panel. I also caught most of the panel before that, which was about the late Bernie Wrightson's concept and design work. Did you know he did concept art for Biker Mice from Mars? I didn't. The Mouse Guard panel was 'interesting.' I guess all panels of this type involve some self-stroking, but damn. There was much name-dropping, talk about the movie in development, more name-dropping, discussion about how genius the gal who's doing the art for the Mouse Guard Alphabet Book is and how she's basically the second coming of DaVinci. We also got a pretty long description of how the creator's mother has Parkinson's & dementia, and the reason he hasn't gotten the next story arc out is because of that. I'm sure now everyone who dared ask about why it's not done yet now feels like a complete shit and douchebag. Makes me damn glad I never asked.
Other than Sofawolf & Diana Harlan Stein, I saw no furry artists or dealers. I do wonder about the ethics of Sofawolf selling the first parts of graphic novels they know are never going to be finished, but I suppose they need to make back their printing costs somehow.
In past years the homeless in San Diego were very aggressive and everywhere. I guess the sheer mass of humanity keeps them occupied near the convention center, but I did get targeted by a woman in the Amtrack lot. She was dressed nicely, and gave me a detailed story about being dropped off there and needing $14 to take the train to Oceanside and that she'd wire me the money later. But there were some clues-- she was very (unhealthily) thin, had pretty noticeable BO, and (biggest tell) had very bad teeth. All = meth-head. I told her I'd spent all my cash at the con. In the Mouse Guard panel there was a woman that weighed in the 400-500 pound range, who spent the whole panel eating. I just felt sorry for her, the chronic overeater & meth-head being two sides of addiction. I saw a LOT of morbidly obese people there. Some had go-karts or wheelchairs, but a lot were on foot. Considering how much walking, standing and carrying heavily packages the con entails, I have no idea how those people managed without dropping dead. I'm in reasonably good shape, and by the end of the day I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. The con also provides NO place to sit and rest, so people had to sit on the floor in the halls. I remember the good old days of the art auction area where you could just sit and chill.
The drive home took nearly 4 hours, or, in music time, 2 1/2 full albums and a song mix. You never go anywhere quickly here.
I left LA around 6 Weds afternoon, and didn't get down there until nearly 9:30. The ONLY reason I can afford to go for more than one day is my sister-in-law, who lives by Miramar Marine Base, graciously gives me crash space for a couple nights. Otherwise it's impossible to get a hotel in town. And if through some freak happenstance if you do get a hotel room, it's obscenely expensive ($200+ per night).
I didn't even try to get into Wednesday Preview Night.
Parking is always an issue. I ended up using the Amtrack lot, which was a criminal $40 per day. At least that was better than one of the hotel lots I used a previous year, which was $50 a day. I could've trolled for a cheaper spot, but that would've entailed more walking, possibly in a sketchy location. The homeless in SD are everywhere, and can be aggressive. Not really a good idea for a female to wander the streets alone.
This year they just mailed the badges, so there was no humongous line to check in. You still had to go through a maze to pick up your lanyaird and con books, however.
I'm really not that crowd-phobic, so the packed halls and dealer's room didn't bother me that much. I just find it annoying, because it's hard to move anywhere quickly or get close to certain exhibits. Sometimes I'd exit the hall to avoid the worse traffic areas when traveling from one area to another. For this year the convention moved the art show into an off-site hotel, and since I was lugging around a backpack that weighed about 100 pounds, I didn't want to schlep all the way over there to see it.
There were some neat convention exclusive toys and figures, but trying to get any of them entailed getting up at 4AM to stand in a line to get a ticket, then if you actually get a ticket, you have to stand in another line to pick up the item. And then you get to haul around this huge display box in a bag for the rest of the convention. I suppose if you're with a group of people and can share line duties it would be workable, but not for someone alone. Still, the Nickelodeon Usagi Yojimbo figure was cool, and Hasbro had a Grand Admiral Thrawn figure I would've gotten if given the chance.
Flesk publications had a book that I pre-ordered on Amazon. According to Amazon, it's still not shipped yet, but they had it at the con. I asked the person at the table about the discrepancy, but they claimed it was available on Amazon. Liar liar pants on fire. I ended up getting the book at the table and cancelling my Amazon order. As a bonus I got a free book from them about one of those lame-ass artists who does the 'noble Indian' faux western paintings. Maybe I can sell that on EBay. On the plus side, I did get a graphic novel I'd been wanting for half price from another dealer.
This year they had a lot of events and panels off-site. I didn't go to the Elfquest panel because it was at the San Diego library and i didn't feel like trying to figure out how to get there. The Adult Swim Rick & Morty panel, as well as the Gotham panel, were both at a ballroom in a hotel next to the Convention Center.
Since a picture is worth a thousand words, if you want to see what the line looked like, the photo is here: http://martes.livejournal.com/918125.html#comments
No, I did not go to any of the panels at that particular venue. I honestly don't understand the attraction of standing in a line for literally days. No exaggeration-- people set up tents and sleep in line. WHY?? You can see the whole fucking panel on Youtube later, and it's not like you can meet the people on the panel, and the room is so big they look like fleas on the stage anyways. I can picture a few instances where I'd camp out in line for days, but the rewards would have to be extraordinary.
One panel I actually did manage to get into was the Mouse Guard panel. I also caught most of the panel before that, which was about the late Bernie Wrightson's concept and design work. Did you know he did concept art for Biker Mice from Mars? I didn't. The Mouse Guard panel was 'interesting.' I guess all panels of this type involve some self-stroking, but damn. There was much name-dropping, talk about the movie in development, more name-dropping, discussion about how genius the gal who's doing the art for the Mouse Guard Alphabet Book is and how she's basically the second coming of DaVinci. We also got a pretty long description of how the creator's mother has Parkinson's & dementia, and the reason he hasn't gotten the next story arc out is because of that. I'm sure now everyone who dared ask about why it's not done yet now feels like a complete shit and douchebag. Makes me damn glad I never asked.
Other than Sofawolf & Diana Harlan Stein, I saw no furry artists or dealers. I do wonder about the ethics of Sofawolf selling the first parts of graphic novels they know are never going to be finished, but I suppose they need to make back their printing costs somehow.
In past years the homeless in San Diego were very aggressive and everywhere. I guess the sheer mass of humanity keeps them occupied near the convention center, but I did get targeted by a woman in the Amtrack lot. She was dressed nicely, and gave me a detailed story about being dropped off there and needing $14 to take the train to Oceanside and that she'd wire me the money later. But there were some clues-- she was very (unhealthily) thin, had pretty noticeable BO, and (biggest tell) had very bad teeth. All = meth-head. I told her I'd spent all my cash at the con. In the Mouse Guard panel there was a woman that weighed in the 400-500 pound range, who spent the whole panel eating. I just felt sorry for her, the chronic overeater & meth-head being two sides of addiction. I saw a LOT of morbidly obese people there. Some had go-karts or wheelchairs, but a lot were on foot. Considering how much walking, standing and carrying heavily packages the con entails, I have no idea how those people managed without dropping dead. I'm in reasonably good shape, and by the end of the day I was exhausted and in a lot of pain. The con also provides NO place to sit and rest, so people had to sit on the floor in the halls. I remember the good old days of the art auction area where you could just sit and chill.
The drive home took nearly 4 hours, or, in music time, 2 1/2 full albums and a song mix. You never go anywhere quickly here.
Also I'm impressed you actually managed to GET a badge Roz..you have to jump through more hoops than Evil Kenevil on a Las Vegas Show Night IF you're lucky and get the money TO go!!
Its just too much for me anymore, so I stopped attending.
A shame really- I used to love comicon.
-Badger-
They also approved my last one after the new standards went into effect, though that was years ago.
Moot point though, since I'm not interested in ever going again.
-Badger-
For the most part we didn't bother trying to stand through the lines and go to events -- we just looked about the floor. We did spend two hours standing in line for the Steven Universe panel -- and managed to not get in. That was a royal pain.
I did my usual thing of telling people about the articles I'd written about them for InFurNation and getting free (or at least cheap) swag thrown at me. I like that.
Or... did they really help? ..I went back later (at 4 pm, after wasting part of my day on a nap).. and found out they (Funko) actually still did have product for walk-up customers.. not anything I was looking for, but still... Anyways, they stole a night of good sleep from me .. and for what? ;P
Never again.
Other than that the con was fairly good. The art show is 3 times as big, and the con suite is 4 times as big. And yep, going back to mailing passes is just about the best thing they've revisited in many years!